They were strangers
by Inzbinz
Summary: This is an AU story. Because of a run in with the CPS, Sam grows up in a foster family, safe and away from hunting. What will happen when Dean tries to find his long lost brother? Weechesters-Teenchesters.
1. I'll be right back Sammy

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you might recognize from Supernatural.**

 **A/N: Dean is about 12 years old and Sam is 8.**

It had all happened so fast, just two hours ago they had been sitting in front of the TV, watching cartoons and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Now Dean was sitting, handcuffed to a chair in what looked like a waiting room, but he and Sammy were the only two people in there. Sam had been given some crayons and a paper to draw on but he didn't move from his seat next to Dean. A week ago, his father had left them in a worn down motel room with enough money to get by and a promise to be back in a couple of days. John had called three days later, telling Dean that the hunt was taking longer than expected and that he wouldn't be back for at least a couple more days. It hadn't been fun but they had managed until today when there had been a knock on the door. Dean could hear his father's words in his head, clear as a bell. _"Don't open the door for anyone Dean_ ". And that was exactly what he did, but the knocks grew more persistent and were followed by a female voice,

"Mr. Carter? Can you open the door please, we are from the child protection service and we would like to have a word."

Dean's eyes grew wide and he tensed up. Sam immediately stood up and looked over at Dean to tell him what to do. Dean put a finger to his lips in a gesture to be quiet. Maybe if they were really quiet, the people knocking would think the room was empty and go away. After a while they heard a set of footsteps walking up to the door and then the rattling of keys. Both Dean and Sam held their breaths as everything went quiet for a couple of seconds. The moment a key was put into the lock, Dean went over to where Sam was standing and grabbed his shoulders.

"Don't tell them anything dad wouldn't want you to Sammy, don't tell them anything." he said while looking into the small boy's panicked face. The sound of the handle being pushed down made Dean turn around and take a few steps back, taking Sammy with him. A woman with dark skin and short curly hair popped her head into the room. Her eyes wandered the motel room and grew sad when they fell on the two boys standing by the stained and worn down couch. She began walking towards them and Dean instinctively tightened his hold around Sammy and took yet another step back. The woman stopped her strides at this and crouched down so that she would be in eye level instead. She tilted her head slightly and said in a low voice,

"Hello there, what's your name?"

Dean and Sam remained quiet as she scrutinized the two boys. She quickly came to the conclusion that they must be brothers. The oldest of the two were eyeing her nervously but had the rest of his face set in a stubborn manor. Behind him, he hid a smaller boy with brown hair long enough to almost cover his eyes.

"You don't have to be scared, my name is Nancy and I'm here to help you." She said and smiled.

The older boy didn't say anything but continued to push the younger boy behind himself until he was completely blocked from her sight. The motel owner, a man in his late forties, had called, saying a man and two kids had rented a room in his motel. The man had taken off in his car the day after and now, a week later, still hadn't come back, according to the owner who was now standing in the door opening, trying to get a peak inside.

"Yep, those are the kids I told you about. Their father left a week ago and hasn't been back since." He said indifferently and put his hands in his worn out jeans.

Nancy sighed and turned to the man, looking at him with glaring eyes. He took the hint and turned around to walk out of the room the same way he came in. Nancy turned back to Sam and Dean.

"How long have you been alone in here?" she said and couldn't help but to look around the room. The walls were filthy and had probably been white at one point but were now an uneven grayish tone. The wall-to-wall carpet had definitely seen better days as well since it was decorated with a variety of differently seized and colored stains.

"Did your father say when he was going to come back?" she asked but received no answer as Dean just kept staring at her. She was pondering on how to proceed when the oldest boy suddenly spoke,

"My dad will be back anytime now and we don't need help with anything." Dean said and tried to sound as confident as he could.

"Honey, this is not an appropriate place for you to be in, especially not without parents. You're not old enough to stay in a place like this by yourselves and you shouldn't have to." She said, choosing her words carefully.

"I'm sixteen, I can take care of us just fine." He said and tried to deepen his voice.

Nancy frowned slightly at that. The oldest boy was tall and looked to be athletic but there was no way he was a day older than thirteen.

"Is this your brother?" she asked as a small head peaked out from behind the boy. Dean didn't answer her but seemed to become more nervous as he started to chew his lip.

"We just want to help." Nancy said after a moment of silence.

"We don't need your help!" Dean yelled. Nancy wasn't taken aback, but was used to this kind of reaction. She figured she'd try another approach.

"If you come with us we will try our best to find your father, I'm sorry but we simply can't leave you two in a place like this. You're going to have to come with us."

"We are not going anywhere with you!" He yelled even louder.

A young man, presumably in his late twenties, stepped inside the room. He was tall enough to almost bang his head on the doorframe above him. The beige police uniform he was wearing looked brand new and had creased pants.

"Do you need help, Nancy?" he said in a deep voice.

"No it's fine Mark." She said as she stood back up from her crouch. She scratched her forehead and said,

"Can I talk to you for a second?" as she walked over to the corner of the room.

"I don't think they are going to come willingly. I'd like to avoid using force to make them come with us but.." she whispered and gave the officer a knowing look and then glanced over to the boys. The officer also looked at the kids and said,

"Alright, let me try"

* * *

Dean smirked at the police officer as he walked into the waiting room. The man's uniform didn't look quite as new anymore since small speckles of blood colored the collar. His face had gotten a small makeover in curtesy of Dean's fists and the officer's nose was now slightly crooked and swollen like a potato. Trying to remove the Winchesters from the motel room had ended with Dean in handcuffs and Sam being carried out by Nancy, kicking and screaming all the way. The officer glared back at Dean with fire in his eyes but said nothing as he walked over to him and removed the handcuffs. Nancy came through the same door and walked over to where the two boys were sitting.

"I need to talk to you individually now, one at a time."

"Sammy stays with me" Dean ordered and looked at the woman, daring her to challenge him.

" _If looks could kill.."_ she thought and continued.

"I need to evaluate you separately, we'll just be in the room next door, I promise." She said.

Dean considered her suggestion. He knew he wouldn't really gain anything by screaming or fighting, other than being handcuffed to the chair again so he said,

"Fine"

The woman looked relieved.

"Okay, it will be alright I promise, I know it is hard to see that now" she said.

Dean saw kindness in her hazel eyes but huffed and rolled his eyes, this lady had no idea what she was talking about.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Dean" he said, he didn't know if it was best to tell them his dad's fake last name or their real one so Dean had to do for the moment.

"Alright Dean, follow me" she said and smiled as she walked towards the door she had come from.

Dean turned his head towards Sammy who looked completely mortified at the idea of being left alone.

"I'll be right back Sammy" Dean said in a voice that was confident but lighthearted before he followed Nancy out.

The lady never came back with Dean. It felt like he had left an eternity ago. Sam started to swing his legs back and forth on the chair, making a smacking sound each time one of his feet touched the wooden legs. The officer, annoyed by the sound, looked up from the magazine he was reading and froze his eyes on Sam who stopped abruptly. The door suddenly opened and a young blonde woman walked into the room. She had nice clothes on, a striped gray suit and skirt. They looked expensive. The officer smiled and stood up as she approached him. He corrected his tie and momentarily forgot about his nose being stuffed full with cotton balls to stop the previous bleeding. The woman looked down in her papers and said something Sam couldn't make out to the officer, who just looked over to Sam briefly and said,

"Sure, he's all yours"

The young woman barely glanced at Sam before she said, "Follow me" and turned around to exit the room.

Sam didn't dare to do anything but follow and figured maybe they would take him to Dean. They walked out of the double doors on the opposite side of the room and started to walk down a long corridor. The woman's high heels made a echoing clicking sound every time they hit the floor and Sam tried to keep up with her fast pace.

"After interviewing Dean we have come to understand that your father is not available. And since your mother is deceased we will have to put you into foster care during the time of our investigation. You are very lucky since a place just opened up for you in one of our foster families. The…" She said and paused, looking through the papers in her folder.

"… Williams family. I will drive you there in a moment, after we finish some paper work. Do you have any questions?" she said and finally turned around to look at Sam who looked up at her with big watery eyes, tears threatening to spill over.

"Oh" she said, surprised.

"Ehm.. There, there." She said and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.

"Do you have any questions?" she said once more.

"When can I see Dean?" Sam asked.

"We are having trouble finding homes to all of the children that come here. You are very lucky we managed to find you a foster family willing to take you in at such short notice. Many kids are sent to an orphanage instead. You won't see your brother for some time because he will undoubtedly be put in a different home. Now follow me." She said and turned away just before a single tear spilled over onto Sam's cheek.


	2. I can't offer that

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you might recognize from Supernatural.**

 **A/N: Dean is about 12 years old and Sam is 8.**

Dean hated the place he had been put in. He had been there for three weeks now and that was more than enough time to get tired of the wannabe thugs trying to pick a fight with him every chance they got. There were at least ten other boys at the 'home' Dean was staying at, Dean didn't think home was even the proper word for it, the Impala was a better home than this if you asked him. He had spoken to his dad on the phone a couple of times and was beyond relieved when John had told him he would be picking him up later that afternoon. He had apparently managed to convince the authorities that he was away on a business trip and that the nanny he had hired to watch the boys for a few days hadn't held up her end of the bargain, which he of course was completely unaware of. Dean didn't know how he did it but John was a pretty convincing liar. Dean smirked to himself thinking about it. He must have gotten that from his dad.

* * *

Dean sat and waited on the worn down porch outside of the big house, getting the last bit of afternoon sun when he heard the familiar rumbling of the Impala. He pushed himself on his feet and jogged to the street just as the shiny black car came into view. Relief flooded through him and he found himself smiling for the first time in days. He wasn't prepared for the big bear hug his dad gave him as soon as he sat down in the passenger seat but he hugged him back anyway. He had missed his dad more than he would like to admit. John patted him on the shoulder once before letting go.

"Son, it's good to see you." he said and smiled but it somehow looked as if he was smiling through tears and Dean frowned at his father.

"Yeah it's good to see you too dad."

John never cried, not once could Dean remember seeing his father cry, with the exception of the night Mary had died. John had already started driving away from the loud house and was heading towards the highway fast, road signs and trees swishing by quietly. He was afraid that if he slowed down he would turn around and change his mind about..

"Where's Sammy? Are we going to pick him up?" Dean asked suddenly and John cringed, looking out of the window.

"No Dean, were not." he said and felt choked, he tried to get his emotions under control and waited for what he knew was to come.

"What? What do you mean, have you already picked him up?" Dean said, turning his head towards the empty backseat. He frowned at his dad, confused.

"No" was all John said, his eyes never left the road.

Dean just kept quiet, waiting for an explanation, he didn't understand what his dad meant at all.

John swallowed before he said, "Sam is going to stay with his foster family, it's better that way, they're good people, he'll be safe." Though he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince the most, Dean or himself.

* * *

 _Earlier that day._

John drove slowly down the street holding a note in his hand, it was the address the social worker had given him. He frowned as he entered the nice and wealthy neighborhood. The houses here were big and most of them newly painted. On his way, he could see several children out playing in the sun. He slowed down at a house with a white picket fence and a big green lawn. From where he was sitting, he could see all the way across the lawn to five children at the other end, playing soccer. He was just about to climb out of the car when he saw Sam come running out of the house. He joined the others in trying to get the ball back from whoever had it. John was far away but he could still see the big grin Sam had on his face, as did the rest of the children. He looked genuinely happy, John hadn't seen him like that since he was a toddler, always smiling at everything and everybody. As John sat there watching, a woman walked from the porch to a big table set up on the grass. She was carrying a platter with cookies and some other tasty looking items. She looked to be in her forties and had shoulder long, brown hair. She laughed and said something to the children who immediately started running towards the table. They were all busy talking to each other as a nice looking man, probably around the same age as the woman, sat down at the far end of the table and held out his hands. They all grabbed on to the hand of the person next to them and bowed their heads. The man said something and everybody finished together with an, even for John audible Amen, before they started to dig in on the sweets. John heard the social worker's passionate words echo in his head. What was her name? Nancy. _"This is one of the best foster families I've ever been in contact with. Caring and loving parents, something to think about when you consider what you have to offer.."_ John had been less than kind when telling her she didn't know what she was talking about, but now John wasn't so sure. They all looked so happy… John took one last look at his smiling son and then the people who would be there to look after him before he threw the car in drive and sped off in the Impala with only one thought in his mind, _"I can't offer that"._


	3. Safe

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you might recognize from Supernatural.**

 **A/N: Dean is about 12 years old and Sam is 8.**

Sam had stopped crying, wiping angrily at his face. If Dean were here he would tease him saying he was a big cry baby. The car ride was surprisingly short, or maybe it just seemed that way because Sam had absolutely no idea where they were going. The black sedan pulled up on a wide driveway and the blonde woman stepped out of the car.

Sam didn't look outside but kept pulling on the strands of fabric that were coming apart on the knees of his jeans. There was a knock on the backseat window and Sam looked up. The woman was gesturing for him to come out and proceeded to open the door when Sam made no effort to come willingly.

"Come on now, these people are really nice, if you just give them a chance I'm sure you'll get along splendidly." She said and smiled stiffly.

Sam kept his head low as he exited the car and followed the woman across a newly cut lawn. The woman went up the three steps of the stairs leading to the front door and pressed the doorbell, causing an audible ding dong. She sneaked a glance over her shoulder to look at Sam, his bangs were covering his eyes from anyone who was taller than him, which wasn't that hard to be. She pursed her lips and gave him a disapproving look just as the door opened.

A middle aged woman, maybe in her late thirties greeted the blonde woman before kneeling down to meet Sam. Sam hadn't looked at her properly yet and kept his eyes fixed on the ground. He kept telling himself that his dad would come and pick him up any minute now, telling everybody what a huge mistake they had made.

"Hi, my name is Karen, what's yours?" He heard her say.

Sam lifted his gaze from the ground and dared to look at her through his bangs. The woman had kind eyes, vibrantly green that somehow reminded him of Dean. She had long brown hair that was slightly curled at the ends. Sam stroked his bangs away from his face so he could inspect his surroundings better. The house was huge, he realized, and white. He had to admit it looked pretty nice, at least a hundred times better than the crappy motels he and his family usually stayed at. Fixing his eyes on the woman once more he swallowed and said, "Sam."

The woman smiled. "Hello Sam, would you like to come inside? I've just made a new batch of chocolate chip cookies." She said and looked at him hopefully.

Sam waited a moment before he nodded his head yes.

"Great, come with me" She said and reached out a hand for Sam to take as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He hesitantly took her hand and went with her inside, followed by the blonde social worker who stayed quiet.

As they walked into the kitchen, the smell of melted chocolate reached his nose and his stomach grumbled loudly. The nice woman, Karen, stopped at the sound and looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

"You must be hungry, we are going to have dinner in a bit but you can snack on these in the meantime." She said and pointed to a plate on the kitchen island and gestured for him to sit down on one of the stools. Sam carefully took his first bite and wondered if there were more kids living here since he heard laughter from upstairs.

"You spoke to Nancy on the phone and she informed you of Sam's situation?" The social worker asked indifferently.

"Yes, we had a long talk, I…" She took a moment to look at the insensitive woman. "I think that Sam will like it here." she said, partly to the social worker but also to Sam, who she noticed was sitting very stiffly, clearly listening to their conversation and looking like he was ready to take off at any moment. Though he still seemed scared, she had dealt with kids a lot more scared in the past. Sam seemed to be a brave boy.

"Good, then my work here is done." The blonde woman said, zipping her bag open to take out a folder and handing it over to Karen. "I can find my way out, thank you." Was all she said before turning around to leave the room. Karen watched her go with a surprised look, _"How rude, that woman sure loved her job"_ she thought and shook her head. She and her husband Robert had taken in quite a number of kids throughout the years, some for a couple of months while other arrangements were made and some to stay indefinitely. But she had never met such an unfit person for her job, it made her fume as she looked over at Sam, who hadn't relaxed one bit but instead looked ready to burst into tears. She sat down opposite to him and said as gently as she could,

"Sam, I know this must be very scary for you but, I promise you I will do my best to make you feel safe and at home here."

There was something in the sincerity of her eyes that Sam couldn't really place. It was familiar somehow, and he found himself taking a deep breath for the first time since he set foot in the house. Since she seemed to be expecting some sort of answer, he gave her a small jerky nod.

He started to nibble more at the ends of his cookie but as soon as the chocolaty taste filled his mouth he couldn't help but to gulf it down.

"When is the last time you ate?" Karen's voice startled him a bit and he looked back up. She had small worried wrinkles on her forehead, but not the kind you would get from age. Sam didn't answer her but instead looked down ashamed, he hadn't meant to seem greedy. All of a sudden Karen stood up and walked over to the seat next to him.

"You know, here, you can just come and tell me whenever you're hungry and I will fix you something to eat." She said.

Sam turned slightly to look at her. Even though her entire manner shone with calm protectiveness, she still had a playful glint in her eyes.

Sam suddenly thought about Dean, it was supposed to be his job to take care of Sam. But there was just something about Karen he couldn't put a finger on, it made him feel safe.

Sam nodded in response and was about to answer her previous question when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, they were probably meant to not be heard but were kind of clumsy. Karen looked towards the stairs and said,

"Melanie, Sara, I can hear you just fine, you don't have to sneak around." She said.

She had told them to stay on the second floor so that Sam would have time to adjust and not be attacked with questions. But they were going to be introduced at one point or another so now was just as good of a time as any, Karen thought. Melanie and Sara both stepped into the kitchen and walked over to the island.

"Yay, cookies." Was all that Melanie said. While Sara just looked at Karen with an apologetic look and said, "Sorry Karen." But she also had a goofy grin on her face.

They both ignored Sam as they sat down and went to grab for the cookies. Karen just shook her head and said,

"This is Sam, Sam this is Sara and Melanie."

Sara grinned with a mouth full of cookies and said, "What's up."

Melanie reached out her hand and said, "Nice to meet you" Sara rolled her eyed at that and shoved in another cookie. Sam grabbed her hand and shook it curtly. She had her long light blonde hair in two braids, one on each side of her face and she was looking at Sam as if she was trying to size him up. Even though she only looked to be about a year older than him, her eyes were intelligent and bright.

"How old are you?" Melanie then said.

"I'm eight" Sam said.

Melanie looked like she was thinking before answering, "I'm nine, Sara is fourteen. You look younger than eight."

Sam felt his cheeks heat up a bit at the comment and Karen quickly said,

"Melanie." In a stern voice, Sam wasn't looking but he guessed she was fixing her with a look to match her voice.

"Karen, I need a ride, soccer practice starts in 20." Sara said as she put her wavy dark brown hair up in a ponytail.

"I'll show Sam his room." Melanie said as she grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him off his chair heading towards the stairs.

"Not so fast young lady." Karen said to Melanie and then turned to Sara, "Robert will be home any minute now, he'll take you."

"Okay." Sara answered with a shrug.

Karen turned to Sam and smiled, "Sam, would you like to see your room?"


	4. Hole of lies

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you might recognize from Supernatural.**

Chapter 4

 _Present day - (Dean's 19, Sam's 15)_

Dean looked down at the note in his hand. The various garden and kitchen items were scribbled down in an almost unreadable handwriting, his dad's. John hated going to the mall, so errands like these were often left for Dean.

As he finished buying the last item on the list, he took a deep sigh of relief. The mall was crowded, so it had taken a lot longer than he originally thought. Just as he took the first step onto the escalator, he spotted a beautiful curly haired girl who quickly looked away blushing when he smiled at her. His eyes continued to wander over the oncoming people until… A tall boy, almost the same hight as himself started to laugh. He looked so familiar. Pictures of an 8 year old Sammy flashed in Dean's mind as he continued to gawk. Before he knew what was happening, they passed each other, Dean going down and the boy going up. Dean automatically turned around, keeping his eyes fixed on back of the brown haired boy's head. He was too stunned to do anything else. Unfortunately the escalator had now reached the bottom and the person in front of him got off. Dean however didn't notice any of this and fell as his boots caught on the edge.

"Shit." he exclaimed. Several people close by stopped and offered him a hand. He quickly got up and looked around, trying to find the boy again. Without thinking, Dean frantically pushed past the people trying to go up. He bumped into a young couple in the process, causing them to yell out, "Hey!" "Watch it!". He heard one of the people who helped him get up call, "Sir, you forgot your bags!" But Dean couldn't be less bothered as he grew more frustrated. It seemed as though this was the day everyone insisted on walking right infront of him, blocking his way. His sprint slowed down the more people he bumped into and by the time he got to the top, the boy and his friends were long gone. Dean stopped, roughly carding a hand through his short hair. What was he thinking? He shook his head, his mind was playing tricks on him. He slowly started making his way back to the bags he had dropped. Picking them up he bitterly thought to himself, _"Stupid. Of course it wasn't Sam, he died in a car crash five years ago."_

* * *

John heard keys being put into the lock of the front door. He was starting up on the dishes just as Dean walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Dean, give me a hand here would you?" He said only sparing a quick glance over his shoulder to verify his son's presens. Dean picked up a red striped towel on the counter and started to dry the white plate his dad handed him.

"Did you find the hedge shears? They were out the last time I went for 'em." John said and tensed up when he received no answer. He put down the soapy wet knife he was holding, "Dean?" he said again. Dean wasn't looking at his father, anywhere but actually.

"Dean, what's going on?" John inquired firmly.

"I… " Dean cleared his throat. "Just before when I was at the mall I…" he let out a huffed laugh. "I thought I saw Sammy."

John froze up, and silence filled the room, except for the running water in the kitchen sink. John looked at Dean and for a moment and Dean almost thought he saw something other than sadness pass through John's eyes, what was it? Guilt? It was gone as fast as it came though and John quickly turned around, dumping three dirty plates into the bubbly water.

"It couldn't have been Dean, your brother is dead, you know that. He died five years ago, in a …"

"Car crash" Dean finished for him and rolled his eyes, having heard the same sentence many times.

John sighed and turned off the water tap, "Dean, why are you bringing this up now?"

"I don't know dad" Dean said and shrugged. "I guess I just wish he wasn't, you know?"

John's face lacked emotion as he plainly said, "Can you finish this? There are some things I need to finish for tomorrow." and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Dean alone to listen to his dad slam the front door a bit harder than necessary. Dean mumbled under his breath "Always does that…" but did as he was told and went to stand by the kitchen sink.

John always got like that as soon as he would bring up Sammy. Dean clenched his jaw in frustration thinking about it. He wanted to be able to talk about Sammy, reminisce about old memories, pranks or trips, the good times. But that just wasn't happening, John would walk away or shut him down before he even had a chance to say anything. Dean always thought his dad had been oddly unemotional about the whole thing, but he figured they all had different ways of coping. And he could say for certain that his dad was not one to open up and share his feelings about anything, it just wasn't in his blood, though that didn't stop Dean from trying. Sometimes it was almost as if John was ashamed of the way things had turned out. Dean could understand why though, he could still remember the horrible day he found out what happened to Sammy…

* * *

 _1993 - (Dean's 14 years old)_

"Dad, we're not even hunting anymore! Why can't we just find Sammy and bring him home?" Dean yelled at his dad.

"Dean, we have been over this a thousand times! We are not going to find Sammy, he has a real family now, he's better off." John said trying but failing to end the argument.

Dean felt his eyes sting at his dad's words. "We are his family, you can't just abandon him!"

"You don't understand, it's more complicated than that!" John shouted back. He rubbed his forehead with his fingers, his temper was getting the best of him and he wished that Dean would just stop pushing.

"How is it complicated? We have a permanent place to live, I go to school, Sammy could go to school here too. You're not even trying!"

"It won't work Dean. We can't take Sam back!" John said, desperate to make his point come across. He felt backed into a corner with this one. Dean was right of course, but he also didn't understand. Sam had a good life now, and even if he had the choice, he probably wouldn't want to come back. Why would he choose the father who abandoned him over the family that had always been there for him? John had made a choice that day, and it haunted him every single day since. Not a day went by when he didn't regret making the decision to leave Sam behind, choosing the easy way out. But the decision was made and it was too late to go back on it now.

"Why not!" Dean demanded, face red with anger.

John didn't think, but acted in selfdefense as he heard himself scream, "Because Sammy is dead!"

Dean's face fell and pure shock decorated it and as John kept digging himself deeper into a hole filled with lies. He took in Dean's pale face and his only thought was: _"What have I done?"_


End file.
